Arise and Walk

This is a video of a young man named Seth going for a walk.... something he hasn't done in over 6 years. After receiving prayer from other Christians at the Jesus Culture Awakening at the Allstate Arena, he was able to rise out of his wheel chair and walk again.

Dead For 28 Minutes

Doctors inexplicably missed a burst appendix, which led to her untimely death in a hospital bed at age 27. But she shocked her doctors and nurses when she abruptly sat up and began to tell stories about a visit to heaven. This story was originally published here.

“I had never been sick in my life,” Betty Malz recalled, at a conference hosted by Hospital Christian Fellowship in the Midwest.  She was only 24 hours into a Florida vacation with her family when she noticed a pain in her side.

At first, she thought she pulled a muscle water skiing or the pain came from her terrible sunburn. But about 11 p.m., after everyone else fell asleep, she began to vomit.

She nudged her husband John in bed. “I’ve got to get some help,” she told him. “I’m very seriously sick.”

About three miles away, they found a small hospital. After a few tests, an intern came back shaking his head. “We’re in a lot of trouble her,” he informed them. “You have an appendix swollen and ready to burst. I have 26 patients and 24 beds, with two patients in labor ready to have babies at the same time. We’re not equipped for this emergency.”

An ambulance transported Betty to a larger hospital in Clearwater, but no one realized her appendix burst during the trip.

After she arrived, a doctor disagreed with the first doctor’s report. “You aren’t even swollen on your right side,” he noted. “You just got too much sun. We will treat you with some antibiotics, put you on a liquid diet, and you’ll be on the beach in a few days.”

After five days, Betty’s health continued to decline. After 11 days, she was blind, had a fever of 105 degrees, and toxic poisoning had spread throughout her body.

A new specialist came in who mistakenly informed the family she had a tubular pregnancy, and recommended surgery to remove what he thought was a four-month-old dead fetus.

Deeply discouraged, Betty’s family decided instead to fly her to Union Hospital, close to their home inTerre Haute,Indiana. After Betty arrived there, doctors performed surgery for her supposed tubular pregnancy, but were shocked when they got inside.

“I’ve found a mass of gangrene the size of a man’s head,” her surgeon told her husband and parents in ICU. “This is the nastiest mess in my 28 years of practice. The first intern was right. It was a ruptured appendix 11 days ago. She has a serious bowel blockage and all her organs have started to disintegrate.”

“I don’t know how a 120 pound woman has lasted for 11 days,” he added. He told them she had a slim chance of survival.

Shortly after his dismal news, Betty lapsed into a coma that lasted 44 days. “I didn’t know a person in a coma could pray, but I prayed,” Betty recalled. She was also very aware of the people who visited her in the room and what they said.

The daughter of an Assemblies of God pastor, Betty received Jesus as her Lord and Savior when she was 13. She had little interaction, however, with other churches and admitted to harboring some prejudice toward them.

“I had a Catholic priest and a Catholic sister that were born again Christians who sat and prayed with me,” Betty said. “I didn’t know that Catholics walked that close to the Lord. I was wonderfully surprised, because I felt God’s presence when they prayed for me.”

Betty’s condition continued to worsen. She stopped breathing twice and doctors revived her. Then she contracted pneumonia and her lungs began to fill with fluid. Doctors informed her family that she was not expected to live, and a steady stream of family and friends came in to say their goodbyes.

“I began to struggle for breath,” Betty recalled. “I prayed, ‘Oh Lord, send somebody to help me.”

Immediately after her prayer, she heard a man’s footsteps. “I heard the pages of a Bible being turned and the voice of a man I never liked. I couldn’t stand Art.”

Her unwelcome visitor read from Psalm 107. “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”

The power of God’s Word brought a “little fountain of faith” that sprang up in her soul. It was the first glimmer of hope that she might be healed.

Not long after Art left the room, Betty breathed her last lungful of air. Doctors declared her dead and her body was covered by a sheet as her family grieved.

But during the next 28 minutes Betty experienced something far removed from grief. The sensation in her body at the point of death she compared to a thrill ride at Disneyland, when a rollercoaster crests over a peak. “Suddenly I realized I was launched into another country, another planet. It was as real as England or America,” she recalled.

“I began to walk through a meadow of waving green grass with flowers and colors I had never seen here.”

Betty saw family members and acquaintances that preceded her in death, including her little brother. “I saw a man who had fallen from a train and had both legs amputated. He was playing in a meadow with animals and children and he had both his legs.”

As she walked up a hill, she realized all her pain was gone and a seven-foot-tall angel walked beside her. “I realized he had been with me all my life, since age 13 when I received Jesus. He had been guarding and protecting me.” They communicated with each other without speaking.

She heard marvelous music and began to sing along. While she never had a very good singing voice on earth, her voice in heaven was surprisingly “high and sweet.” She stopped singing abruptly when she recognized the voice of a deceased Gospel singer enjoyed by her family. ‘I’ve been born again and the old account was settled long ago,” he sang, to her amazement.

As Betty approached a large gate, an angel stepped forward and touched it. The gate swung open and she beheld a dazzling golden light. The light seemed to shine through her body and provided warmth. As she looked down, she saw new pink skin had formed over her surgical incisions.

The bright light emanated from the throne room of God. “Jesus was at the right hand of the Father in a majestic golden throne room,” she said. “The light reflected on a golden boulevard down the center of the city. I realized the light in that throne room was the source of all energy and power and life.”

She was amazed by something that resembled the Northern Lights or airport beacons. “These were prayers ascending from the earth,” she noted. “They were ascending like laser beams, going directly to the light in the throne room.”

On one shaft of light, she recognized her father’s voice. “I looked down and saw my father weeping in the hospital room.” She recognized her own body, covered by a sheet, and her bed pulled closer to the door.

He was so heartbroken, he could only offer a one-word prayer: “Jesus…” In his crisis of desperation, pain and grief, there was nothing else he could utter. He wanted his daughter back.

Betty said she never wanted to leave the glory of heaven, but after her father’s one-word prayer, she began to travel faster than a jet plane back down toward the roof of the hospital.

“I saw the morning sun coming up, shining on all the church steeples in our hometown.”

Carried with the rays of the morning sun, she saw pulsating ivory letters, about two inches tall, coming through the window of her hospital room like a stock market ticker tape. “They were going into my body through the sheet,” she noted.

As Betty got closer to her body, she felt like she was at the end of a descending elevator ride. She felt a little jerk, like an elevator when it reaches the ground floor, and she slid back into her body.

She read the ivory letters, which were the words of Jesus recorded in the Book of John. “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”

Incredulous, she wondered if she was hallucinating. “I reached up and touched the words of Jesus, and this was no hallucination,” she said. She pushed the sheet off her face and touched the Word of God.

As she touched the Word, life went into her fingers, arms – into her entire body. Abruptly she sat up in bed. The sheet that covered her body fluttered to the floor. “When I sat up I scared a whole room full of people.”  Her nurse’s aide ran out the door, as if she saw a ghost.

“I’m five-foot twelve and I weighed 68 pounds,” she recalled. “I had a green complexion, yellow eyes, and my hair had not been shampooed for nine weeks.” As Betty looked across the room at her horrifying appearance in a mirror, for the first time in her life she didn't care about the way she looked.

“It was so wonderful to have a second chance to love people and to live again,” she said. Her husband, parents and daughter, Brenda, rushed over and got on the bed with her, and began to squeeze and hug her.

Betty’s doctor was very embarrassed by her Lazarus-like experience, because he had already signed the death certificate. Overwhelmed, he sat down privately with her for a heart-to-heart consultation.

“You were without oxygen for a long period of time,” he said. “You had a bowel blockage and your organs started to disintegrate. We need to talk about mental and physical therapy.” He suspected she had brain damage and he still wanted to perform a colostomy to provide a way for Betty to eliminate her foods. He warned her against discussing her trip to heaven.

After he left the room, one of the hospital staff mistakenly brought a full meal to her, which included two broiled pork chops, applesauce, cottage cheese, lemon cake, and tea. Betty devoured the entire meal in a matter of minutes.

Nurses were horrified by the mistake, and insisted they pump her stomach before her surgery, scheduled that day. Betty argued with them, certain she was healed.

Reluctantly, they took her into the bathroom, where she had a bowel movement.

The doctor returned to her room, amazed. “This is not possible,” he exclaimed. “This can’t happen!”

He pulled back the sheet to examine her incisions. He saw the fresh pink skin that began to form in the New Country. “I don’t know where you went, but you came back well,” he said, with a dazed expression on his face.

Betty’s near-death experience and glimpse of eternity altered her thoughts on many subjects. “My religious and racial prejudice was gone,” she said. “I found that in that place they didn't ask for a label or a passport or the name of your church.”

“The only passport or visa to get in was Jesus, the Son of the Living God. I realized God loved all the churches where they exalt the name of Jesus.”

“It was so wonderful to have a second chance to live again. I know what it will be like on the great resurrection morning to see loved ones. Every morning is like Easter at my house now.”

The Radiology Lady

Stop me if you've heard this one...

As I sat in a hallway, waiting for a patient, I saw a radiology technician walk by. She had a boot on her foot. This was a special kind of boot. It's the kind you wear when you you have a broken or sprained ankle. She seemed to be in a hurry and the hallway was crowded. I though for a moment about asking her if she wanted to be healed, but I quickly dismissed it.

Ten minutes later she returned. She had a cup of coffee  in one hand. She was alone and seemed to be in no hurry. The hallway was empty. Even my partner was gone. She was ten feet past me when I said, "Hey! Do you have a minute?"

She turned around. "Sure."

I got up and as I drew near, I asked how she injured her foot. She explained that she rolled it, and had a lot of soft-tissue damage. She mentioned that there was a lot of internal bleeding and swelling. It sounded painful.

I blurted out, "Would you like to be healed?"

She smiled and replied, "Do you know how to heal?"

"Yeah. I pray with a lot of people and they get healed."

"Well, actually, I only have one more day in this thing, then it comes off."

"So how does it feel right now....is there any pain?"

"Not if I have the boot on. But when I take it off, yeah - it hurts."

"So, can I pray for you to be healed?"

She gave in. "Yeah - go ahead."

I placed my hand on her foot, commanded spirits of pain and inflammation to leave, commanded ligaments, bones, tendons, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage to be healed. (This is probably the only way to cover all the bases when you really don't know what needs to be healed.  - just go for everything.) I asked the Holy Spirit to bring His presence and asked what she felt.

She held out the hand that wasn't holding the coffee and wiggled her fingers..."It feels kinda like...."

"Tingling?" I asked.

"Yeah!"

I smiled. "That's because God is healing you."

She gave me a big smile. I took her hand.

"'...'cause God's cool like that."

She seemed really glad that I interrupted her day. She turned and walked down the hallway. The recipient of God's mercy and power. I sat down and waited.

I really hope she gets an x-ray.

Skeptic's Eye Healed

Sunday Mail reporter Anthony Gough visits Bridgeman Downs Christian Outreach Centre in Brisbane, Australia to see if healing miracles really do exist.

Doomsday Preppers

Over the last month God has been giving me dreams about meeting with survivalists, or as they're affectionately called, 'doomsday preppers'.

When most of us think about survivalists, we tend to think of those weird gun-toting people, who have an affinity for gas masks and gold. I've never had a friend who I would call a 'prepper'. But I recently met a couple of people who are. And they aren't the kind of people I thought they would be.

Two weeks ago, I had a dream about meeting up with survivalists in my area and joining their group. There's a longer story behind this, which I'll share at some point in the future, but if you've been following my Facebook notes, you already know the story.

My wife and I decided to check out the local 'prepper' groups to see if we could find someone to talk to. We located a guy who was interested in sharing information. We exchanged e-mails and had a long phone conversation that ended with an invitation for us to visit him. We took him up on the offer the next day.

We drove to his house, which is located in a nice neighborhood. I didn't see any machine gun turrets or signs of a bomb shelter. Just a nice woodworking shop that made me a bit envious.

Frank (not his real name) showed us around, proudly describing the unique features of the home he built himself. We parked ourselves on the back porch where we chatted for the next 8 hours about all things related to prepping.

Before moving to Arizona, I lived in Washington for 16 years, where we suffered frequent power outages. Eventually, I decided to buy a generator so I could make coffee for myself and the neighbors during the windstorms.

I've always liked the outdoors. I've been a rock-climber since I was a kid. As an adult I took up mountaineering and eventually became interested in high-angle rescue. As a firefighter and was trained to teach community preparedness for disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. Over the last three years I began having dreams about concerning events of the future, so I began to set aside more emergency supplies.

I've slowly been developing the lifestyle of a prepper. I'm not an expert in preparedness. I know a little, but I have gaps in my knowledge base and we're short on some of the things we need to have. There's also a lot of bad information out there and through the conversation we had on the phone, I knew this fellow was an 'expert' although he cringed every time I mentioned the word. We came to learn. And my wife, ever the good student, brought a notebook full of questions she'd written out beforehand.

Preppers and prophetic people have a lot in common. They both have an eye on the future. The Old Testament is full of people you might call preppers. Noah spent 120 years building an ark for a flood, when it had never rained before. How much do you think Noah's dreams stretched his imagination?

Joseph is the prototype of what modern preppers are all about. Pharaoh has a dream. Joseph interprets it. He sees famine and drought coming. He tells the king what he sees and develops a plan to mitigate the damage. Set aside a little each year to get the nation though the time of hardship. It worked perfectly and a nation was saved, all because of a prepper.

I had an ulterior motive when I met with Frank and his wife. I explained to him on the phone that I thought preppers were missing out on one major thing that could make their work a lot easier.

They seldom consider the miraculous.

Medical care in a disaster is a huge concern for preppers. Their theory is that medical care may not be available in a worst case scenario - so it's wise to have someone on your team who can treat illness and injuries. Most preppers recruit doctors, nurses or ideally combat medics for their team so that in a worst case scenario, they have someone around with experience in medicine.

I suggested to Frank that there was a better solution.

Preppers hold the view that one day there will be a lack of the things needed to survive. They believe that the best strategy is to store up what will be needed, as no one will provide it for them. My view is that there may be lack in the kingdom of man, but there is no lack in the kingdom of God and that my Father is willing and able to meet all my needs through His riches.

I told him that someone who is trained in divine healing would be indispensable, since this mode of healing requires no license to practice, no equipment or drugs, has no side effects and can be done over distances. Better yet - it can be done by anyone who is a disciple of Jesus and knows how to release the power of the kingdom.

I went one step further and explained that some of my friends have prayed over empty gas tanks, then drove hundreds of miles to church meetings without filling up the tank. I told him about people who take a few dozen hot dogs and buns to feed the poor and when hundreds of people show up- they pray over the food and it feeds everyone with some left over.

He understood my perspective, but for most people, seeing is believing.  I wanted to demonstrate the reality of the kingdom to him so he could see it firsthand.

I knew from our phone conversation that Frank suffered from Chrohn's disease. But I didn't know his wife had a torn meniscus in her right knee.

When I pray with a group of people with various conditions, I try to select someone to heal first who's healing can be verified immediately, without medical testing. One healing miracle at the beginning encourages everyone else who needs healing.

The best candidates to start with are people with orthopedic injuries like sprains, fractures, torn ligaments, torn cartilage, etc. Chronic back pain is a common complaint for many people. These injuries are usually painful and they limit range of motion. When healing manifests, the pain disappears and range of motion returns. The miracle can be verified immediately, without testing.

I wanted Frank to be healed, but I thought that if he saw his wife healed first, it would encourage him. So I asked if she wanted to be healed and she said yes.

I prayed over her knee a few times and had her stand up. What happened next was a shocker to me. I could see that she was standing slightly tilted to one side. With a stunned look on her face she asked why she couldn't stand up straight. She said it felt like one of her legs was too long. She took off the shoe on her right foot and removed a heel lift then put her shoe back on and said, "Oh my God, I think my short leg just got longer. I don't need my heel lift anymore!"

She got down on the floor and sat on her legs with her knees bent. She leaned as hard as she could on the right knee but couldn't make the pain return. She was healed and overjoyed.

Frank looked at her in disbelief.

We went in the house and made chili dogs then returned to the porch. We talked and shared stories and enjoyed the evening with our new friends. We really like these folks. But it was time for Frank to be healed so I got up and stood behind him. I said a few words, commanded sickness and inflammation to leave and blessed the work of healing God was about to do. Then I sat down and asked what he felt.

"This is really weird. We just ate, right? Right as you were praying, I became very hungry again."

I believed the hunger was a sign that he was healed. It was almost midnight so we made our way to the car and said farewell.

A few days later, I received an e-mail from Frank. Here's part of the report he gave me:

"...On a side note, (my wife's) knee still feels good, and I have not had any symptoms to the magnitude that is normal. Go figure??? Not a complete believer yet, but am keeping the door open!"


We're looking forward to the next doomsday prepper meeting. 

Are you crazy? Who Wouldn’t Want to Go to Australia?

Today's guest blogger is....MY WIFE.

This is a message my wife wrote about about our trip to Australia in September of 2012. She discusses the problems she wrestled with and the ways in which God showed her His faithfulness.

My husband, Praying Medic, the author of this blog, and I had many wonderful experiences on our ministry trip to Brisbane, Australia. He asked me to write about a particular series of events surrounding the trip from my perspective because they were events that personally affected my faith. My husband has written about some of the amazing supernatural healings we saw, but this is really a story of how I learned to trust the Lord more - especially in the area of financial provision. So if you struggle with trusting God in this area, my hope is that you will be encouraged by the story I am about to tell.

He Makes a Way Where There is No Way
Let me say that there was no way we would have made this trip without God providing a way. I've been unemployed and household funds were very tight when the trip was first proposed. However, I really did believe it was God's will that my husband would go to Brisbane to minister and teach on healing.

The trip was generously funded by our new online friend in Australia, known as The Graceful Banker on Facebook. (That’s another story) And as time moved along, the plans for our trip were coming together more easily than I expected. I saw it as an open door and an awesome opportunity for my husband, but I was not so sure it was God's will that I should go along.

I Don’t Want to Leave My Comfort Zone
I don't consider myself a spiritual giant. And I wasn't convinced I had anything significant spiritually to offer others on the trip - except my prayers. My husband wanted me to go, but I secretly kept hoping the whole thing would fall apart, so I could stay home in my comfort zone.

Here's what was going through my mind:
“I don't like long plane rides.”
“I am unworthy.”
“I wonder what will be expected of me.”
“We won’t be earning money while we’re gone.”

I had a lot of excuses for staying home. Finally, I started to become more vocal about not wanting to go. The reaction I got from people was, "Are you crazy? Who wouldn’t want to go to Australia?"

Although I consider myself to be a ministry partner with my husband, I've leaned toward the notion that it is really his ministry and his calling to heal the sick. I'm there to support, love and encourage him. I'm very good at that part.

I do have other talents that God has used, but I have this sense that my true destiny is not fully known to me yet. My husband tells me that God has spoken my destiny clearly to me (mainly through dreams and prophetic words) but I haven't trusted that I was hearing Him correctly, I haven't trusted myself to walk it out… or I haven't trusted God enough to bring it to pass.

Giving Financial Control Over to God? 
I was raised without God and lived as an atheist for about 40 years. I scoffed at believers and didn't understand a single thing about faith, nor did I want to understand. (I know some of you can totally relate to this.) I gave my life to Jesus in 1998 during a defining moment in my unbelieving life; my second divorce.

But, I was so accustomed to doing things in my own strength, and working hard to pay for everything I needed or wanted that I’ve never really been comfortable stepping out to do something if I can’t see where the funds are going to come from. So, lack of funds for the household while we were gone was a concern to me. I like to be responsible, pay bills on time, keep a good credit score, etc.

It’s the Perfect Time to Panic
After much grumbling on my part about the trip, my husband told me "I really need you on the trip."

Others have encouraged me that, indeed we are a team, and I do have something to offer - even if I don't realize it. I didn't want to let my husband down or disobey God when He clearly made a way for this to happen. So, I settled it in my mind that I needed to "bite the bullet" and go.

Before the trip, I decided to set up our household bills to be paid automatically while we were gone so we wouldn't be late with payments. I needed to project the amount of income we could expect from my husband's vacation pay and add up all the bills & expenses. As I filled out the amounts in a spreadsheet, my projections showed our account would be short. It would go into a negative balance! There wouldn’t be enough funds to pay everything because my husband wouldn’t be paid any overtime wages while we were gone.

You should know that I’ve been unemployed for about 10 months and my husband's overtime wages have been vital to make ends meet.  So, I really went into panic mode. In fact, never in my life have I broken out in hives from stress (or anything else) but this deficit news was just enough to send my body over the edge with a case of hives.

While I was fretting and losing sleep, my husband tried to soothe my fears and told me "You just have to trust that God will make a way and provide what we need. He wouldn't call us to Australia if He wasn't going to provide everything we need." He was so full of faith, and I was so skeptical. It further deepened my thinking that I really had nothing to offer anyone.

Ye of Little Faith
Fear is the opposite of faith. I knew that. I felt worse and quite guilty for not having the faith.

"Why doesn't He provide all the money ahead of time so I don't have to freak out and worry?" I asked.

"Well", said my husband, "That wouldn't require faith, would it?"

"Ugh", I said.

My mental gears began to work. How can I insure that the funds will be there while we're gone so I don't have to worry through the whole trip? We already had built up some credit card debt when we moved to Arizona, and it's been a struggle to try to pay that down while I've been unemployed.

My clever credit card company sent me some checks to entice me into more debt at 0% interest for a year. I didn't want to add more debt by using one of the checks, but didn't see any other way to get fast cash into our account just days before the trip. So, I wrote one of those credit card checks to myself and deposited $1000 into our account to cover any deficit for the month.

Sigh. Not exactly relief. I still wondered how we would pay it back. But at least I could put off the problem and I try to stop fretting about it. So we packed our bags and flew across the Pacific Ocean. Upon arrival, we were greeted at the airport before dawn by The Graceful Banker.

Ministry 
Within the first couple of days in Brisbane, we began to work with the street van teams that deliver food to the homeless. Throughout our trip, The Graceful Banker was driving us around and generously paying for our expenses. As I said, we couldn't have done this without divine help and someone like him who was tuned in to what God wanted to do.

Meeting the Access street van teams was great! These people are so dedicated to serving and touching hurting and unfortunate people it was inspiring to serve beside them. They faithfully prepare sandwiches and heat up meat pies in a small church kitchen, heat water in a huge urn for coffee, tea and Milo, and go out on preplanned routes to shelters and even under bridges where some homeless people gather. This could be particularly dangerous, if not for the Lord's protection.

We prayed for folks and saw some healings right away. God is so good! My husband and I spoke at a small church in Darra. I really didn't know what was expected of me but somehow, God stepped in and gave me the words. My husband took the lead on teaching about healing. We both laid hands on many, many sick and hurting people throughout our 2-week stay. I gave a testimony of my two failed marriages, a rape at knifepoint when I was 19, and how the Lord modeled forgiveness to me many years after that event. Some women came up to me afterwards and said, "Your testimony really helped me."

I was beginning to see that I did have a purpose on this trip. I can't speak right now of all the ways God showed up because my focus in this story is on trusting Him for provision.

Mail for Us?
Within our first few days, our host drove us to his lovely country home to spend some more time with his mum and the kids. He stopped at his mailbox before entering the driveway and pulled out the envelopes. There was an envelope addressed to my husband and myself.

I was very surprised. Who would send us a letter in Australia?

When we got into the house, I saw the return address. It was from a Facebook friend who lives in Perth. She was one of my husband's Facebook friends for a long time, but more recently she began sending me encouraging emails about a health issue that cropped up for me.

Let me say, we have never met this person. She lives in Perth, Australia on the western coast of the country. We were in Brisbane, on the eastern coast. We wanted to meet up with her and other Facebook acquaintances from Perth but were not able to on this trip.

She writes:
“I had been planning to come and meet up with you but when I noticed your itinerary was only for a couple of weeks, I realized with birthday commitments I had, it wasn't going to work. I was disappointed. I could still come, but it would have only been for a few days and it was a long way for a short visit. I don't believe it was meant to be.”

My husband handed me the envelope. It didn't feel like a letter, it was a padded envelope. Inside was a lovely necklace with two pearl pendants that could be switched out - one dark pearl and one white pearl.

"Awww… this is so nice", I said.

I couldn't believe she was sending me a gift. I think it's hard to choose jewelry for someone you don't know, but this piece actually fit my style. I thought that in itself was amazing.

There were two smaller decorative envelopes inside the padded envelope. One said "Letter" so I opened it. Her letter started with these words "You are on your way to Brisbane as I write this." She wrote three lovely pages to us, including scriptures that the Lord was bringing to her attention, (Colossians 3:1-2 and 1 Corinthians 2: 9-16.) She said she'd like us to send her a message to her to let her know the envelope arrived safely.

At the end of the letter, she mentioned something about wanting to buy us an iPad. She said, "… so use this money for this."

Amazingly, the last envelope inside the padded outer envelope contained a stack of Australian cash. It was quite a thick stack of 50’s. In fact, standing at the counter in The Graceful Banker's kitchen, we all knew it was way more than an iPad would cost. I started to count it, but stopped after I got to about $500, because I was overwhelmed.

So, we put it aside for a while and The Banker let us his phone to call her. We thanked her for the gift and the money and told her how surprised we were. We got a chance to talk about spiritual things and how the trip was going. She shared the story of how God directed her in all this. Here's her story…

The Lord asked her to put away a bit of her grocery money every "fortnight" over a period of time. She wasn't sure what He wanted her to use it for. When she knew we were coming to Brisbane, she wanted to bless us and thought it would be nice to send about $250.

But, the Lord spoke to her and said "Send $1,000."

She didn't hesitate, she wanted to be obedient. God had never directed her to give a sum this large to anyone before. (It's amazing to me that she didn't question Him or argue about it.) She believed she was hearing from Him, so there was no question in her mind that she would send it….. but how?

She couldn't transfer the money through electronic banking because she didn't have an account with that capability. She asked a couple of friends if they would deposit her cash and transfer the money to us for her. No one wanted to do this. They didn't think she should send money to people she’d never met in person.

So, in a big step of faith, she put the whole stack of cash in the envelope, tucked it inside the padded envelope and put regular postage on it. Then, the Lord told her to put it in the Express box. It's funny, she did argue with Him about that!

She didn't have Express postage on it, so she didn't want to put it in the Express box. After trying to reason with God, He assured her that it would be okay. He wanted it to arrive quickly. So, again, she obeyed and dropped it in the Express box. It got to us more quickly than she expected.

When we ended our phone call with her, we went back to the envelope and curiously began to count the money. We got to 500, then 600, and were still counting. The final count was $1000. The exact amount that I had transferred into our account to cover our shortfall before we left! I immediately said to my husband, "Why do I ever doubt God?"

A Lesson for Me
So, through an obedient and faithful servant, the Lord showed me that He understood my fears about the finances, that He saw my distress, and that He had it covered the whole time.

Let me say, she knew nothing about my financial worries. My husband and I were the only ones who knew about it. (Well, I think I mentioned it to my neighbor who stopped by to visit before we left.)

We were hoping God would help us pay back the $1000, but He moved in advance of our arrival in Brisbane. I believe He wanted to get to the money quickly so that I wouldn’t continue to fret about it. And He wanted to show me that He was in control. He is my provider. I will always have this testimony of how He provided for me. And she will always have this amazing testimony of how God used her to provide an exact amount to meet a specific need.

Most of us have heard stories of the Lord asking someone to give, and it turned out to be the exact amount that the person needed who was receiving it.  He has asked me to give specific amounts to different individuals at times, but I never got confirmation that it was the exact amount they needed for something.

My husband and I were financially blessed on one particular occasion when we gave a large amount at a conference, and when we got home an unexpected refund came in the mail that was greater than what we gave. So, I knew the Lord had a history of this type of blessing, but I never before had an experience like this one.  I've been striving for so long. I had a lack of faith in the area of provision. It’s a weakness in my walk with Him. But it's true; His strength is perfected in my weakness.

Now I am challenged to do the things He has told me to do; the things I've been afraid to do because of the economy or my jobless situation. I have no doubt that He will bless the work of my hands and work all things for good as I step into His purpose.

There’s More!
Months before we left for Australia, I was trying to pay down some credit card debt and looked at my bill wondering why the amount owed was getting larger instead of smaller. I had not made any purchases for months.

I checked my statements and saw a $75 charge that was being added each month. It looked like a service I had signed up for, but I’d forgotten what it was. I figured I should call them and cancel. So I called the 800 number and I told them I wanted to cancel their service because I was currently unemployed.

The gentleman on the phone said, “You’re unemployed? Ma’am, this charge is for insurance that pays your monthly credit card payment if you get laid off or are unemployed.”

After he said that, I began to have vague recollection of signing up for this a long time ago. He asked me some questions and said, “It seems as though you will qualify for benefits, but I need you to fill out some paperwork.”

He sent a claim for form and I filled in all the details, attached some other documents and saw that I needed a signature from the last company I worked for. I e-mailed my supervisor. She said she couldn’t sign the form. I called back the insurance company. They told me I must have the signature from my last employer.

I called the employer’s corporate office and asked if someone there would sign the form. She told me to fax the papers to them. So I did. I waited and waited and after a few days I called again but got their voicemail. I e-mailed them and still received no reply or signature.

I got discouraged and figured this would be the insurance company’s chance to deny me the benefits. I submitted other pieces of information in lieu of the signature but it was rejected. Days before we left for Australia I called again and finally got someone at corporate office who said she would help. I faxed everything again. The paper was signed and faxed back to me…finally.

So I mailed everything to the credit card insurance company. They said it would be about 10 days before I would get their decision by mail.

When I got back from Australia, there was a letter in my mailbox that said my claim had been accepted and they would make my next credit card payment. Finally some progress, but I wished I had put my claim in 10 months ago when I was first laid off. They could have been paying that bill for the past 10 months. Anyway, I decided to be grateful that the payments would be made as long as I was still unemployed.

After a few days, my credit card bill came. Upon examination, I saw that the insurance company had paid the bills retroactive back to the date I was first unemployed. Actually, they paid 10 months of DOUBLE monthly payments and refunded the monthly $75 insurance fee for all 10 months! My new balance owed on the card was now HALF of what it was before I went to Australia. What do you think - was I just so smart for buying insurance or was this a blessing of Divine Debt Reduction?

Migraine Headache Healed - Dr. Nemeh

This is the testimony of a healing of migraine headache through Doctor Issam Nemeh.

Margaret's Miracle

Originally posted here on John Mellor's Facebook page.

Today, Julie and I caught up with Margaret Neely in Belfast. Margaret is a walking miracle.

For 9 years she was a housebound cripple in a wheelchair. Her spine had been shattered and she was told she'd never walk again. She heard about the miracles happening at my meetings in Scotland in 2000 when revival broke out. Something in her told her that she had to get to the meetings from her home in Northern Ireland.

It took Margaret from 4am in the morning to 7pm at night to travel on a ferry and in several disabled taxis to get to the meetings in Scotland. She had to confront many fears to get to the meetings, having not left her home in so long. I prayed for her many times on the first night she came, but nothing happened. I encouraged her not to give up and told her if she kept coming I'd keep praying for her.

The next weekend, she made the long trip from Belfast to Scotland again. Again, there was no change after prayer. However, Margaret witnessed many outstanding miracles at the meetings and I continued to encourage her to keep believing for and pursuing her miracle.

She came a third weekend, but again wasn't healed.

On the fourth weekend, when she arrived, God spoke to me and told me that Margaret would walk that night. Mid way through preaching, God prompted me to stop and pray for Margaret. I held her hands and said, 'In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.'

Margaret later testified that she felt heat down her spine and she got up out of her wheelchair and walked. It was an amazing miracle! Margaret's testimony is inspirational because it demonstrates that not all healing is instant. Very often there's a process involved. God often wants to touch and heal the heart and emotions first, and this was certainly the case with Margaret who had many traumas and abuses throughout her life that needed to be healed.

It may seem that God isn't doing anything at times, but He is often at work on things you can't see. It also often takes a level of desperation and an attitude to be open to working with God and applying His principles to get the miracle. 12 years after her miracle, Margaret is still walking and serves God by ministering to others.

God bless you Margaret!

Testimony From Word of Knowledge

This is the testimony from a woman who was healed of low back and sciatic nerve pain.

Taking Risks

This is a promotional video for the Voice of The Apostles Conference - 2012. That conference came and went last week and lives were changed.

The video speaks to the differences we can make in the lives of others, if we're willing to take risks.

And the kingdom of God only advances to the degree it's representatives are willing to take risks.

I hope you're inspired by it

Kris Valloton - Managing Your Life

If you don't manage your life, others will. If you don't take care of yourself, no one else will. If you don't set boundaries for yourself; the crowd will get what they think they need from you, but soon there will be nothing left to get. Then they will discard you like an old pair of shoes.

If you set boundaries to manage your soul, many won't like it. They will accuse you of being arrogant, uncaring, not spiritual, unloving, etc. They will tell you about the life of Jesus, who never turned away anyone...of course - He didn't begin His public ministry until he was 30 and died at 33. He also had no wife or children to take care of...no soccer games to go to, no sleepless nights...up caring for a crying babies etc...

If you have a public platform, most people think you are obligated to carry out their will...pray for them at their convenience, take pictures until all you can see is lights, hear every detail of their story, while 40 other people wait in line behind them, follow you out to your car or talk to you over the bathroom stall. You are expected to answer every post, email, phone call, text, etc.

If you love God and are passionate about caring for people...if you give people hope and believe in miracles...if you pour out your soul for the broken and the poor...if you are radically generous...you WILL have favor with God and man. BUT if you don't steward the favor of God...if you let the fear of man be your shepherd...if you convince yourself that you are the savior of the world, obligated to meet every need that you are exposed to...YOU WILL CRASH and the crowd will find another savior.

So a little advise from an aging man; chill...you are not that important.

Have fun! Enjoy your life. Learn to say NO! Operate out of overflow. Let Jesus love on you. Let the crowd think whatever they want...and remind yourself that there is always enough time to touch everyone Jesus sent to you. :)

~ Kris Valloton


Editor's note - What Kris has illustrated is all too common in the body of Christ. I don't believe it was ever God's will to make a handful of people responsible for the majority of the work of ministry. That's why my desire is to train every believer I can to do the works of the kingdom.